Blues musicians from the Delta, Chicago, and Texas struggled to get their music heard. In the early 1960s, some young British kids found a few records.
The effect of these amazing sounds on this generation took on a life of its own, and within a few years, all music-loving kids were talking about the blues.
It was cool to like R&B and know at least a few of the names of the artists.
After that, music would never be the same again.
In the late 1950s and early 1960s, Chris Barber's Jazz Band and the beautiful singer Otillie Patterson brought the sound of New Orleans to British traditional jazz fans. This was just the start of a wave of new sounds that culminated in what became known as the British Blues Boom. On Banjo was the great Lonnie Donegan, who a year or two later became known as the "Godfather of Skiffle." All of the early musical melting pots gave the next generation of musicians a place to start, and within a few years, the music scene would change in a way that would never be the same again.
The great L.P. New Orleans Joys by Barber was the first time I heard the blues. I can't remember all of the songs' names now, but the spooky sounds gave me strange feelings and led me to love the blues for the rest of my life, as I'm sure it did for many young kids at the time.
In London clubs in 1962, there were a lot of Blues gigs, especially at the Famous Marquee, which was on Wardour Street in Soho. The great Alexis Korner turned out to be just a warm-up for what was to come. Cyril Davies played the harp, Dick Heckstall-Smith played the loudest saxophone, and Mick Jagger (yes, that one!) sang. I guess that first album, which had live tracks from the Marquee, was... Alexis Korner's b>Blues Incorporated/b> started the trickle, which quickly picked up speed, and soon the Blues was all that young music fans talked about.
Soon after, in 1963, the man who would become known as the "Godfather of British Blues," John Mayall, played at the Marquee. John's famous band, The BluesBreakers, got more and more popular and wealthy as musicians joined and left in a steady stream over the next few years. John turned 70 a few years ago, but he still plays as well as he ever did. This disproves the idea that life is over at forty and that everything gets worse after that. The list of musicians who learned from John is like a who's who of the music business. Many of them are still playing today. John McVie, who helped start the band Fleetwood Mac, Mick Fleetwood, Jack Bruce of Cream, Eric "Slowhand" Clapton, Peter Green, Aynsley Dunbar, Mick Taylor, and many more.
The Yardbirds were the band that I think was the turning point at this time. They had so much energy and enthusiasm on stage that no other band could compare. When I first heard about this Juggernaut, it was on a Monday morning at school. Some of my friends told me about this amazing band they had seen at the Marquee that had a guitar player who was just incredible. The year was 1963, and the man in question was Eric Clapton, who was only 18 at the time.
At this point, The Legend had already started, and I think Eric was the one who got a lot of people in Britain interested in the blues by making the Yardbirds well-known on the R&B circuit. During this time, a lot of young people tried to play like Clapton. Some were successful, but many were not. The almost forgotten Gibson Les Paul, which made the sound that was closest to the Chicago Blues of a decade earlier, was found and brought back to life. This may have been one reason why guitar bands became more popular than wishy-washy pop bands at the time. Eric's use of this instrument took the Blues to a new level, and no one could stop the flood that was coming. Both Gibson and Fender guitars were used by the Yardbirds. Eric played a Fender Telecaster at first, and Chris Dreja played a Gibson 335. However, the Les Paul became the band's favourite in the years to come, especially in 1965 and 1966.
In 1963, the famous harp player Sonny Boy Williamson was one of the first blues artists to come to this side of the Atlantic for a tour. He recorded a great live album with the Yardbirds that didn't come out for a few years. The band's quiet support for Sonny Boy showed how tight and in control they were, but the lead singer and harpist, Keith Relf, was a little annoyed that he had to take a back seat to the Master during the show. In the years that followed, many more Blues legends went on tours of Britain and Europe. This not only gave their careers a boost, but it also gave young white Blues players a chance to learn from the Maestros. Some of these people are Howling Wolf and the legendary Son House, who lived at the same time as Robert Johnson in the 1930s. In 1970, just before he died, the author was lucky enough to see Son House play in London. He was very weak, but he could make that National Steel Guitar sing beautifully.
The album that came out before the Flood was John Mayall's "John Mayall's Bluesbreakers with Eric Clapton" from 1966, which was released on the Decca label.
Slowhand sang for the first time on this album, and he chose Robert Johnson's "Rambling on my Mind" as his first song. That day in the studio, Mayall's gutsy Barrelhouse piano, Eric's Les Paul, and Eric's shaky vocals all worked together to make a piece of Blues history. For me, that album shows not only how good the musicians are and how much they care about the music, but also what the Blues means to the British. Since the first time I heard this song, it was a big deal, I've heard it so many times that it's hard to keep my emotions in check each time.
The b>Robert Johnson Legacy/b> is an important and integral part of the b>Birth of the Blues in Britain/b> and is to thank for the vitality of the Blues scene on both sides of the Atlantic today. Robert Leroy and his magic have a big impact on all blues bands, past and present. The world will always remember his genius and skill with the bottleneck.
